Closet storage rack



Dec. l, 1959 c. ROMA, JR 2,915,192

CLOSET STORAGE RACK Filed Nov. 15, 195e INVENTOR CHA/@LES ROMA, JR..

ATTORNEYS CLOSET STRAGE RACK Charles Roma, lr., Memphis, Tenn.Application November` 15, y1956, Serial No. 622,330

'3 Claims. (Cl. 211--114) This invention relates to a closet storagerack, and more particularly, to a rack adapted to be movably mountedwithin a storage closet for movement between a position in which it maybe loaded conveniently and a position in which it occupies normallywasted closet space.

'Closets in homes and other buildings normally are pro- "vided with adoor of some kind in the front wall through which access may be had tothe interior of the closet. The rear wall of the closet usually carriesa horizontal shelf lextending forwardly from the back wall toward thedoor. Such shelf must be spaced substantially from the front wall of thecloset, however, in order that access may' be had to the shelf forplacing articles thereon. Immediately below the horizontal shelf, theordinary closet is provided with a horizontally extending rod for thesupport of garment hangers.

This arrangement of the ttings in a closet leaves a substantial amountof space which cannot be used effectively for storage purposes withoutpreventing access to the horizontal shelf and the garment hangersupporting rod.

Various proposals have been made for the addition of certain otherstructures in closets to facilitate the use of some, at least, of thenormally wasted space. See, for example, Davis Patents 2,460,681 and2,483,629. However, the structures proposed heretofore have presentedpractical disadvantages, in that they were relatively expensive and/ orthey interfered with the normal use of the customary closet fittings.

It is an object of this invention to provide a storage rack adapted tobe mounted within a closet near the front wall thereof for verticalmovement between a lowered, rst position in which access may be had toboth the rack and a closet shelf through the door of the closet, and asecond, raised position in which the rack is located adjacent theceiling of the closet and adjacent the portion of the front wall of thecloset located above the door.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a closet storagerack with means for mounting and moving it which will be economical tomanufacture, easy to install, and eliicient to use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a storage closet with astorage rack mounted so as to permit efricient utilization of the closetspace above and adjacent the doorway of the closet without in any wayinterfering with the normal use of the rest of the closet space.

The foregoing objects of the invention are attained by the provision ofa storage rack guided for vertical movement along a path adjacent thefront wall of a closet by guides attached to the inner faces of the doorframe and supported by exible strands passing over guide elementssecured to the ceiling of the closet. The tiexible strands are attachedto the top of the rack, extend upwardly over the guide elements, andthen pass down` wardly along one side of the doorway of the closet. Alsoattached to the ceiling of the closet is a stop member Which may bemanipulated to lock the strands in any Sttes atent O G '2,915,192*Patented Dec. 1 1959 desired position so that the elevation of therackcan'be regulated conveniently.

A better understanding of the invention and additional objects andadvantages thereof will be gained from consideration of the followingdetailed description of certain embodiments thereof illustrated in theacompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing the front face of a closet wallwith the closet doorway open and with the rack of the present inventiondisposed adjacent the floor of the closet;

Fig. 2 is a vertical ksectional view showing the rear face of the frontwall of the closet with the storage rack of the present inventiondisposed adjacent the ceiling if 'the closet;

Fig. 3 is an exploded View of the rack and the :means for mounting andguiding it during vertical movement; A

`Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional view -of strand guidingand stopping means which may be used in the apparatus of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken along the line 5 5 inFig. l and showing the arrangement vof the parts for guiding the rack inits vertical movements;` and Fig. 6 is a horizontal cross sectional viewsimilar to Fig. 5, but showing a modified form of guiding means for therack. l

In Fig. 1 the front wall of a closet has been designated by the numeral2, and the rear wall, by the nu-` meral 4. As is customary, the frontwall 2 of the closet is provided with a doorway 6 which may beborderedby a frame 8 set into the front wall 2 of the closet. Also illustratedare the usual fittings for a closet, that is', a horizontal storageshelf 10 and a garment hanger sup-l porting rod 12. n

Any suitable closure may be provided for the doorway 6T. For example, aswinging door or a sliding door of conventional construction might beused. Such closure has been omittedfrom the drawings in the interest ofclarity.

Mounted within the closet, by means which will be described in detaillater, is a storage rack designatedgenerally by the numeral 14. Thisstorage rack 14 pref--V erably is in the form of a container open onlyat its front` face, but many of the advantages of the present inventioncan be realized with other articles supporting struc tures.

The illustrated storage rack 14 is made of sheet metal, preferably sheetaluminum, so as to be lightweight and durable; It includes a top wall16, a bottom wall 18;' a back wall 20, two end Walls 22 and 24, and ahor'izontal divider 26, all connected together by bolts to form acontainer. In use, articles such as vshoes may rest upon the bottom Wall18 and upon the divider 26, and it is often desirable to increase therigidity of these members by the provision of longitudinal ribs such asthat indicated by the numeral 28 in Fig. 3.

The rack 14 is suspended from the ceiling 30 ofthe closet by means offlexible strands or cords 3.2 and 34 attached to the top wall l16 of therack near the ends and the front edge of such wall. Y These strands 32and 34 extend downwardly together from the ceiling of the closet forconvenient manipulation. n

As shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 5, the rack 14`is guided for verticalmovement by guide means or tracks 36 and 3S attached to the rear face ofthe door' frame 8 by screws 410 and extending substantially the entireheight of the closet. At their upper ends, the tracks 36 and 38 may beconnected to the ends of a ceiling bar vor channel 42 wlii'cfli` carriessuitable strand guiding and locking means. At# tached to each of the endwalls 22 and 24 of the rackf 14 is a vertical channel-shaped member 44which carries aL plurality of rollers 46. tracks 36 and 38 and serve toconfine the rack 14 against all movements other than verticalreciprocation. It is preferred that the rollers 46 be formed of nylonbecause this material makes it easier to reciprocate the rack 14 andminimizes the noise generated by such reciprocation.

Fig. 6 illustrates another form of rack guiding means. Here, the endwall of the rack, the door frame, and the vertical track have beendesignated by the numerals 22a, 8a, and 36a, respectively, to indicatethat these members may be exactly like the corresponding members 22, 8,and 36 of the 4embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Cooperating with thetrack 36a is a vertical guide channel 48 attached by rivets 50, or bybolts, to the end wall 22a of the rack. In this connection it will beunderstood that the opposite end wall of the rack carries an identicalguide channel in position to cooperate with a track like the track 36a.In this embodiment, both the track 36a and the guide channel 48 shouldbe formed of steel because aluminum slides tend to bind.

Since in both of the illustrated embodiments the storage rack isconfined to vertical reciprocation, it will be evident that the depth ofthe rack may closely approximate the distance between the front edge ofthe closet shelf 10 and the front wall 2 of the closet, giving the racka substantial capacity. Also it should be pointed out that the capacitymay be increased further by increasing the width of the rack 14. This ispossible because the guide tracks 36 and 38 may be located anywherealong the inside face of the front wall of the closet.

The ceiling bar 42 is attached to the ceiling 30 of the closet by screwsor other suitable fastening means 52. A pulley or guide 54 of somesuitable construction is attached to the ceiling bar 42 near one endthereof and serves to guide the flexible strand 32. Adjacent the otherend of the ceiling bar 42 there is mounted a fixture 56 which may be ofthe type commonly used in Venetian blinds. As shown in Fig. 4, thefixture 56 includes a housing 58 having therein a grooved pulley orguide 60 for the reception of both of the tiexible strands 32 and 34.The fixture S6 also includes a pivotally mounted stop element 62, thelower end of which is serrated to facilitate the gripping of theliexible strands 32 and 34.

It will be seen that the strand 32 extends upwardly from the rack 14along one side of the doorway 6 of the closet, over the guide 54, acrossthe ceiling 30 of the closet, over Athe guide 60, and then downwardlyalong the opposite side of the doorway 6. The strand 34 extends upwardlyfrom the rack 14, over the guide 60, and then downwardly in closeproximity to the downwardly extending portion of the strand 32. Althoughreference has been made to two strands 32 and 34, it will be apparentthat one strand would serve just as well if its two ends were attachedto the rack 14. In such an arrangement, the strand portions extendingdownwardly from the guide 60 would be connected together at their lowerends.

By bringing the downwardly extending portions of the strands 32 and 34into contact with the serrated edge of the stop element 62, and thenallowing these portions of the strands to move upwardly a short distanceunder the influence of the weight of the storage rack 14, the stopelement 62 is caused to pivot about its axis to pinch the downwardlyextended portions of the flexible strands against the end wall of thehousing 58. In this position, the strands 32 and 34 are locked againstmovement in a direction which would permit the rack 14 to descend. Whenit is desired to release the stop element 62, all that need be done isto pull downwardly slightly upon the downwardly extending portions ofthe flexible strands 32 and 34 to pivot the stop element 62 in aclockwisev direction away from the end wall of the housing 58.

It should be particularly noted that the rack 14 may be held at anydesired level between the floor and the ceiling of the closet. When therack 14 is lowered all the way to the floor, there is virtually nointerference with access These rollers 46 ride in the to the closetshelf 10. When the rack 14 is held at an intermediate level, access maybe had to its contents without bending over. When the Yrack is raised tothe ceiling, it is entirely out of view and it does not interfere withthe placing of small articles, such as hats, upon the shelf 10. Whenraised, the rack 14 also forms a substantially dust proof storagecontainer in that its open front face is close to the front wall 2 ofthe closet and is effectively closed thereby.

Another characteristic of this invention that should be noted is thatthe structure may be shipped in disassembled form. At the point of use,the several parts of the rack 14 may then be bolted together, theceiling bar 42 and tracks 36 and 38 installed, and the strands 32 and 34positioned for u se.

Although reference has been made in theY foregoing detailed descriptionto certain specific embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent topersons skilled in the art that various alterations and modificationsmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It isintended therefore that the foregoing description be considered asexemplary only and that the scope of the invention be ascertained fromthe following claims.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for storing articles in the normally unused space near theceiling and the front wall of a storage closet having a doorway in itsfront wall terminating a substantial distance below the ceiling thereof;comprising a substantially closed article support having an accessopening only in the front face and adapted to be disposed inside saidcloset adjacent said doorway; opposed vertical tracks adapted to bedisposed on opposite sides of said doorway; guide means on said supportadjacent said access opening for cooperating with said tracks to confinesaid support to vertical movement; first strand guiding means adapted tobe disposed adjacent the ceiling of said closet above one end of saidarticle support; second strand guiding means adapted to be disposedadjacent the ceiling of said closet above the opposite end of saidarticle support; a rst exible strand portion connected to the top ofsaid one end of said article support adjacent said access opening andextending upwardly therefrom, over said iirst and second strand guidingmeans, and then downwardly from said second strand guiding meansadjacent one side of said doorway; a second flexible strand portionconnected to the top of said opposite end of said article supportadjacent said access opening and extending upwardly therefrom, over saidsecond strand guiding means, and then downwardly in proximity to saidfirst strand portion; and stop means adjacent said second strand guidingmeans and operable selectively by manipulation of the downwardlyextending parts of said first and second strand portions for holdingsaid parts against movement in a direction which would permit saidarticle support to descend, whereby said support may be held at anydesired elevation.

2. Apparatus for storing articles in the normally unused space near theceiling and the front wall of a storage closet having a doorway in itsfront wall terminating a substantial distance below the ceiling thereof;comprising a substantially closed article support having an access'opening only in the front face and adapted to be disposed inside saidcloset adjacent said doorway; opposed tracks having vertical groovesadapted to be disposed on opposite sides of said doorway; a verticalseries of nylon guide rollers on each end of said support adjacent saidaccess opening adapted to ride in said vertical grooves to confine saidsupport to vertical movement; rst strand guiding means adapted to bedisposed adjacent the ceiling of said closet above one end of saidarticle support; second strand guiding means adapted to be disposedadjacent the ceiling of said closet above the opposite end of saidarticle support; a rst flexible strand portion connected to the top ofsaid one end of said article support adjacent said access opening andextending upwardly therefrom, over said rst and second strand guidingmeans, and then downwardly from said second strand guiding meansadjacent one side of said doorway; a second tiexible strand portionconnected to the top of said opposite end of said article supportadjacent said access opening and extending upwardly therefrom, over saidsecond strand guiding means, and then downwardly in proximity to saidiirstv strand portion; and stop means adjacent said second strandguiding means and operable selectively by manipulation of the downwardlyextending parts of said first and second strand portions for holdingsaid parts against movement in a direction which would permit saidarticle support to descend, whereby said support may be held at anydesired elevation.

3. Apparatus for storing articles in the normally unused space near theceiling and the front wall of a storage closet having a doorway in itsfront wall terminating a substantial distance below the ceiling thereof;comprising a substantially closed aluminum article support having lanaccess opening only in the front face and adapted to be disposed insidesaid closet adjacent said doorway; opposed steel tracks having verticalgrooves adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of said doorway; avertical steel rail on each end of said support adjacent said accessopening adapted to ride in said vertical grooves to conne said supportto vertical movement; iirst strand guiding means adapted to be disposedadjacent the ceiling of said closet above one end of said articlesupport; second strand guiding means adapted to be disposed adjacent theceiling of said closet above the opposite end of said article support; arst exible strand portion connected to the top of said one end of saidarticle support adjacent said access opening and extending upwardlytherefrom, over said rst and second strand guiding means, and thendownwardly from said second strand guiding means adjacent one side ofsaid doorway; a second flexible strand portion connected to the top ofsaid opposite end of said article support adjacent said access openingand extending upwardly therefrom, over said second strand guiding means,and then downwardly in proximity to said rst strand portion; and stopmeans adjacent said second strand guiding means and operable selectivelyby manipulation of the downwardly extending parts of said first andsecond strand portions for holding said parts against movement in adirection which would permit said article support to descend, wherebysaid support may be held at any desired elevation.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 493,596McLeran Mar. 14, 1893 563,299 Nitzsche July 7, 1896 891,228 Bowen June23, 1908 1,123,247 Clarke Jan. 5, 1915 2,180,863 Clancy Nov. 21, 19392,181,399 Forbes Nov. 28, 1939 2,306,266 Heim Dec. 22, 1942 2,459,598Stott Jan. 18, 1949 2,483,629 Davis Oct. 4, 1949 2,634,186 Zuss Apr. 7,1953 2,798,545 Busciolano July 9, 1957

